


The Devil is Not as Black

by boononjie



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Dino is growing up, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Seungkwan rags on Dino as usual, Sexual Identity, Suicidal Thoughts, Supernatural Elements, Unresolved Sexual Tension, VerKwan about to duke it out, vernon is babie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:43:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28791177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boononjie/pseuds/boononjie
Summary: -as he is paintedThe Divine Comedy by Dante AlighieriLee Jungchan is your average young professional. He’s stressed, he’s broke and he wants to live his best life possible despite it all. Enter two people who are pulling him back and forth on the littlest and the biggest things in life. Seungkwan and Vernon may be polar opposites that bicker a lot and give Chan regular, massive headaches, but the two have easily become his rock and foundation in this arduous journey of life. Sometimes he feels like he is in a universal switch up of hot and cold with the two around and that there’s a tug of war between heaven and hell when he is with them; but boy he doesn’t know just how true that is.
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan/Chwe Hansol | Vernon/Lee Chan | Dino, Boo Seungkwan/Lee Chan | Dino, Chwe Hansol | Vernon/Lee Chan | Dino
Kudos: 6
Collections: Seventeen Rare Pair Fest: 2 Rare 2 Pair





	The Devil is Not as Black

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [SVTRarePairFest2](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/SVTRarePairFest2) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> A maknae line fic. Make it tender, make it angsty, make it fan the flames of your loins (yes, i said that). Make Seungkwan confident, witty, feisty. Vernon weary, amused, down-to-earth and Chan stubborn, prideful, intelligent.
> 
> Make them all love to hate, & hate to love each other. Make them fall into each other's beds & hearts. Have Verkwan softness, Verchan laughter, & Boochan banter.

  
  


_“We don’t even ask (for) happiness, just a little less pain.”_

_Charles Bukowski_

  
  
  


The mother ran after the kid who escaped her clutches upon hearing his name called by the nurse in the serene blue PPE. She stood frozen, aghast at the speed her son had built in such a short time. Later on, she would go home and tout his kid as the next Usain Bolt, but before she could do that, she had to catch this little Tasmanian devil.

The kid seemed miles away from the mother and the injection needle; he was already halfway through the halls of the wing where they treated animal bites. He ran, screaming his head off and frantically calling to gods and saints he previously had no knowledge of, in order to shield him from that infernal needle. Soon his cries died down and he must have been far enough, successful enough to escape his fate.

But fate is fate, and a scheduled appointment with the Animal Bite Center was a prized one and was followed religiously. The doctor in a vibrant green PPE careened through the hallway, chasing after the overdramatic kid. In a few minutes, the wailing returned, sounding louder with each passing second, and the doctor and the thrashing kid reappeared, painting quite a Renaissance imagery.

The kid kicked with all his might and screamed profanities at the doctor, who was only trying to make sure that the kid wouldn't die foaming at his mouth. The mother, relieved at not having to run so much, and the father, who looked on sternly and quite disappointed in their son, approached the pair. The boy was deposited back to his parents and the father pinned the boy down on the chair with all his strength.

"Please, please, I would do anything," the boy pleaded a last time while sniffling piteously with snot and tears mixed on his face.

The doctor shook his head and instructed the parents to count up to 3. On 3, a gut twisting scream echoed throughout the waiting lounge of the Animal Bite Center; Lee Jungchan winced and felt his heart tear just a wee bit at the absolute misery the kid was in.

"That's gonna be a kid who'll grow up to make a deal with the devil."

Lee Jungchan, Chan for short, turned to his left to eye his companion critically. "What?"

Boo Seungkwan, his friend of almost two or three years now, and also the main reason why he was here in the first place, rolled his eyes at him but didn’t say much and chose to continue swirling around his cup of iced coffee. 

Chan shook his head. He was quite used to this, sometimes Seungkwan muttered things under his breath that Chan was sure he misheard, but it happened too often to brush away. In any case, Chan has learned not to question it much, especially since Seungkwan’s utterances seemed to center around the existence of angels and demons most of the time. He thought Seungkwan was a devout, religious person at first, but time only revealed Seungkwan’s aversion to church and pastors so he did not know what to make of his quirks.

“I would have cried that hard too if I was in his place,” Chan divulged as he watched the fighting spirit of the child evaporate into nothing. “Pain must be the scariest thing to a kid.”

Seungkwan snorted and shifted to face him. “Really? I’d love to see that. Can you do that when you get called in there? The full theatrics! Scream and shout and let the doctor chase you down the hall.”

Chan squinted at him. “Wow-- Soonyoung hyung warned me about you. I should have listened to him when he said you’re the devil incarnate.”

Seungkwan chuckled but he neither denied nor balked at the comparison.

“You’ve seen me at my worst when your demon dog mauled me!” Chan continued, Bookeu’s bite smarted even more at the mention of the unfortunate incident that brought them to the Animal Bite Center. He looked at the ominous circle of red that marred his wrist. The bite wasn't that bad now, but it didn't seem like things would have been okay for him two days ago when Bookeu absolutely refused to let go of his hand. “What more do you want from me?”

“Me?” Seungkwan exhaled lowly as he chewed on his straw thoughtfully. “What do I want?” 

Chan shrugged, but he couldn’t help but feel a weird tightness cover him when Seungkwan started leaning in towards him. Seungkwan was closing in on him dangerously; it had him gulping at the sudden proximity. This near, he could make out the absence of Seungkwan’s irises. It was like the whole pupil had swallowed the browns of Seungkwan’s eyes and frankly, the sight made his skin crawl up and down his spine. If it wasn’t for the dozens of people around them, he would have fled just because of the way Seungkwan smirked, but at the same time, he was inexplicably bound to his seat, eagerly awaiting for the answer.

“Maybe, I just want you to suffer.”

Chan felt his heart stall. For a second, it all seemed too real of a wish but when he looked at Seungkwan whose smirk has now turned into a soft, warm smile, eartnesly pink like his high cheeks; he breathed in relief.

“Oh my God, hyung!” Chan crowed as he shoved at Seungkwan, desperate to shake off the icy feeling at his hyung’s irreverent words. “You’re so annoying!”

Seungkwan raised his arms in defense and, thankfully, took himself out of Chan’s personal space. He said nothing more and leant back on his chair and returned to sipping his iced americano. “How about now Chan, do you still feel like dealing with the devil?” 

Chan scoffed. “Over your dog’s bite? Not likely! I’d ask more of the devil now that I am older and wiser!” 

Seungkwan pointed the green straw at him. “Would you really though?”

“What?” Chan asked quizzically, eyes focusing on the gnawed on straw. There goes Seungkwan again with his weird obsession about divinities and non-divinities.

“Deal with the devil and the powers that might be?”

Chan opened his mouth to speak but found no words. Seungkwan was watching him sharply and he was reminded of the intense staredowns he has had in immigration counters. He shrugged and eyed the two guys that were coming down the hallway distractedly instead of giving into Seungkwan’s weird questioning. 

“Maybe, maybe not."

"Pfft…" 

And then there was silence between them. But now, Chan found it easier to breathe; it was as if a cloak of dismal peculiarity had been pulled off him. He snuck a glance at Seungkwan who, as it turns out, was inspecting the couple who were approaching them with much interest. Seungkwan gave the couple a head-to-toe once-over before tutting and refocusing on him. 

"Ain't that a shame, Lee Chan, ain’t that a shame..."

* * *

  
  


The last day of Vernon’s treatment at the Animal Bite Center could be summed up by a single word. Sulfuric. As soon as he had stepped into the familiar hallway, his vision was tinged yellow and his nose scrunched as he was assaulted by the overwhelming and familiar presence of perversion.

“Hyung, can you feel it?” Vernon muttered under his breath as he inched closer to S.Coups seconds after the doors of the lift closed. They were on the third floor; the top-most floor of the humble Health Center, and today, the place seemed just a little bit less welcoming than usual.

S.Coups nodded, a frown formed in between his brows but dared not utter a thing. Instead, he led Vernon to the same corridor they have traced countless times in the past month. Closer and closer to their final destination, the smell of sulfur and a torrid slickness that cannot be attributed to the summer heat only intensified.

Vernon looked around; there were only a handful of people that they came across but none of them exuded that oleaginous essence, at least, none of them seemed to be the source. “Was I too out of it in the past days, hyung? Is it just me or is this something new?”

“No, you’re in tip-top shape, Vernon,” S.Coups assured him. “This is a new development.”

Vernon sighed in relief, it was too early to get rusty in the game. It would have been bad if his hyung had caught the sensation before and he had no inkling of it. “I have never even felt a presence this strong, hyung. Does this mean that they’re near?”

“They’re near, alright...and powerful too,” S.Coups bit his lip and pulled at Vernon’s jacket to keep him closer. “Eyes sharp, Vernon. I should have been able to sense them even outside the building, but their masking ability is strong.”

“They’re masking themselves?” Vernon echoed unsurely. He usually had sharp senses and could tell energies that were not of human nature easily, but he has never encountered this so-called technique of masking. “What for?” 

“Hospitals are kind of our territory,” S.Coups explained; their eyes landed on an image of a cross and the two bowed reverently as they made the sign of the cross discreetly. “They need to blend in if they don’t want someone like us trying to cast them away.” 

“If that’s the case, then they’re not blending in well enough if we could smell and feel it,” Vernon commented. 

S.Coups shook his head. “No, Vernon, the fact that they could even hide themselves within our territory and we could not even pinpoint them is proof enough of their power. I should have been able to feel them as soon as they stepped foot here.”

Vernon wrinkled his nose again; the irritating smell has become stronger now that they neared the treatment area. “At least they do not feel malevolent…”

“You’re right,” S.Coups sighed. “But we still have to be careful. They’re probably one of those guardians but the powerful sort of guardian.”

“If hospitals are our turfs, then what are they doing here?” Vernon asked, puzzled. There were a few dozen people sitting and waiting for their turn to be called, but none of them stuck out to him.

S.Coups shrugged and looked pointedly at his bandaged hand. “They must be here for the same reason as you are; to get treated for an animal bite? I don’t know. Regardless, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be on your guard.”

Vernon nodded solemnly. Just because he was here to get treated didn’t mean his duties stopped. They didn’t get breaks just because they were indisposed. He looked at his bandaged hand, the dog bite didn’t seem as important now. “Hyung, you don’t think they’re here to cause trouble, right?”

“In our territory?” S.Coups scoffed softly. “Unlikely. The fact that they even attempted to hide themselves only means that they don’t want anyone to know they’re here - but if they truly are guardians, then they would have felt us too.”

Eyes widening, Vernon paused in his walking and tugged at S.Coups, and made his hyung turn around to face him. “They would be able to sense us?” 

“Reciprocity, Vernon. If there’s one rule you have to remember, it’s always this, whatever we could do--they could do it too.” 

Vernon chewed on his lip worriedly as he trailed after his hyung. The bothersome sulfuric scent that he has now become accustomed to still lingered but he couldn’t help but fixate on what his hyung just revealed. It was unnerving, he couldn’t remember ever learning about this reciprocity. As new as he was to his duty, he knew deep inside that he couldn’t keep on using the excuse of being a neophyte to miss such a huge chunk of information. S.Coups seemed to sense his anxiety and his hyung fell back to be in step with him again. 

“You’ll be fine,” S.Coups reassured him, grinning widely as he pulled Vernon in a side hug. “Trust in Him. He has our back.”

Vernon could only smile at him wryly in return. “I’ll need more prayers and practice then.”

“Of course! But if it means anything to you, I know you can do it, Vernon. You wouldn’t have made it if you didn’t have what it takes. Don’t worry too much, for now, all you have to focus on is getting that last shot in!” 

“Last one, yeah, thank Heavens,” Vernon winced, his gratitude was genuine though but he would be the first to admit that he could live this life without seeing another injection needle. 

S.Coups thumped him in the back. “Chin up, soldier! Same routine again? Give my hand a squeeze if it’s too sharp?”

Vernon shook his head amusedly. “Of course, hyung, after all, it’s practically your fault I’m going through this.”

“Kkuma is an angel and I raised her well! You just surprised her,” S.Coups defended. “Besides, I’ve always been here as your moral support!”

“Any last vaccinations?” A nurse called out, interrupting Vernon's response to his hyung. 

“Here!” S.Coups raised his hand and pointed at Vernon’s head. “He’s due for his last shot!”

“Alright, please follow me!” 

They fell behind the nurse in blue who was headed towards a door further up the hallway. Completely bypassing the long line of patients that were sat against the wall, Vernon mentally apologised as he muttered whispers of a healing prayer to each patient that he passed. 

And then, on his seventh invocation, he felt it.

Vernon swallowed hard, hoping to get rid of that sudden sting in his throat. He placed a hand on his neck, bowed down and called forth for His blessing. The pain eased a bit, but it was still there; dull and a little less potent. When he looked up he saw two pairs of brown eyes watching him, but the gazes were vastly different. One was a gaze of distracted curiosity and was absolutely mundane; but the other stare was more pointed and otherworldly. 

Staring back at the uncanny eyes, Vernon felt a flicker of irritation when the man unflinchingly bore into him with a sneer. There was a quick shift of black that if it were any other person, they would have thought they had only imagined it but it only made Vernon surer that those eyes were undoubtedly the source of the perversion. He wondered, briefly, if S.Coups recognised him to be the source, but his hyung had already entered the room they were being led to; if S.Coups knew, he didn’t give any indication of it. 

So Vernon steeled himself and pulled confidence from The Grace as he interceded for the protection of the person that was sat next to that vile man. He mentally cheered when he saw a faint cloak of golden light envelop the companion which made the vile man collapse back into his seat, irritation marring the all too human façade. He watched the source tut and he knew that this would not be the last of it.

"Mr. Chwe?" The nurse knocked on the open that was left for him. "The doctor is ready to see you now."

Vernon nodded and proceeded to shuffle towards her reluctantly. As much as he wanted to make sure that the guardian- or was it a malevolent?- would not hurt anybody today, it didn’t feel right to do more. He knew that wickedness would not surrender so easily, but he had an appointment to attend to. If it was written in his fate that they would cross paths today, then Vernon was sure that he had already fulfilled his role by giving the unsuspecting man a much needed protection. Besides, if they were bound to meet again, then life would make it happen so.

* * *

Seungkwan inspected his nails as he stood in the middle of the deserted lift. Judging them to be clean and long enough, he dug his index finger deeply into his palm. The crescent shaped mark that it left looked red and angry, but to his disappointment, he had failed to cut himself.

_Useless_ , he thought bitterly and shifted his gaze to the red light of the lift's floor indicator. Seventeenth floor, it said, 13 more floors and he'd reach the penthouse. _This lift is just as useless. Hell, could this lift go any slower?_

A small ding alerted Seungkwan to his arrival on the penthouse level and the doors of the lift started opening slowly. He was about to step out of the lift when a quick golf ball zoomed past him, narrowly missing his left ear. It made a high pitched cracking sound that reverberated throughout the metal box as soon as it came into contact with the mirrored back wall of the lift. With a dull thunk, the ball fell on the carpet and took with it some shards of the dark mirror. He sneered; he was already tired and he hasn't even met them yet.

He stepped out of the lift and into the brightly lit and pristine penthouse. It was so bright and so white; the floor-to-ceiling windows boasting of sunny, blue skies made him think he was in the heavens, but he knew this was only an illusion. The heavens, after all, could never contain them. He arched his brow as soon as he spotted Jeonghan. The man stood front and center, smiling proudly with both arms hanging off the golf club that was resting behind his neck. 

"Turn around, Seungkwannie! Tell Joshuji it looks great!" 

Seungkwan wordlessly obeyed and spun around just in time to catch the lift doors closing. And when the doors closed, he could only gape at the sight. "What in fresh heavens?" The black steel doors were littered with silver and white dents. At first, the collection of dents and scratches looked random but as he stepped back, he caught sight of a make-shift portrait. It was a weak attempt at a facsimile of some face; if anything, it looked like a lopsided elf with horns.

"Looks like Joshuji, right?"

"It's actually insulting how he thinks he has totally painted me with his golf balls," another voice joined them. It was no other than the inspiration of the piece. Joshua gave Seungkwan a warm smile and offered him a flute of dark, and bubbling, unidentifiable drink.

"Essence?" Seungkwan queried, the drink was ominous looking but he held out his hand to receive the glass regardless. 

"Demon's Buzz," Joshua said, knocking back his own flute. "Champagne and soju with activated charcoal."

Seungkwan blanched at the combination and sniffed at his own flute discreetly. He watched as a flute of a similar concoction appeared beside Jeonghan. The guy had long abandoned their conversation and had now turned his back on them; hands hovering over a wooden case of golf balls that was distinctly missing a few. 

"What happened to swinging balls outside? Don't you usually open your windows and aim at the other buildings?"

Jeonghan tsked as he picked up a ball before bending down to put it on a tee on the fake green. "Too many dead bodies."

"Turns out, errant golf clubs and golf balls kill," Joshua chimed in as he pulled Seungkwan aside and led him to a chaise that was out of Jeonghan's golfing range. "It's too much of a waste of money to keep settling over dead and disabled people."

Jeonghan practiced his swing twice before readjusting himself on the other side of the tee. Facing Seungkwan, he lamented with a pout. "The worst part of settling is that we're doling out all this money but getting nothing in exchange for it. I couldn't even get a few dozen people with my golf balls."

"Ah," Seungkwan muttered indifferently and took a tentative sip of the drink. The drink was unsurprisingly sweet given the combination of the alcohol but it had a gritty texture; it was too sandy and the charcoal was too powdery to be mixed in. "Who did this drink?"

Joshua clapped him on his back and grinned with pride. "Nice right?"

"Don't mind Joshuji, he's just obsessing over a new hobby," Jeonghan called out as he swung sharply. There was a loud bang and sure enough, the dents-turned-Joshua portrait got an additional inch of a horn. "Doesn't this look wonderful? I think that was what was needed to complete the look."

Jeonghan was the picture of immense satisfaction despite the fact that his work was nowhere near an image of Joshua in any form. On ordinary days, Seungkwan would have commented something; he would even go as far as to chide Jeonghan about the evident lack of artistic skills but today, he decided not to say anything. If he did, it would only bug Jeonghan and make the guy dissatisfied, which would only result in him having to extend his stay. The same applied to Joshua, so any reservations he had with either of the two's eccentric activities went unaired.

"So, what brings you to our amazing abode, Seungkwannie?" Jeonghan plopped down next to him and stretched his hand out for the Demon Buzz flute. The drink came flying right into his waiting palm and he downed it all in one go. "We don't have a progress meeting do we?"

"No," Seungkwan shook his head. "I'm not due until the next quarter or so."

"How's your day been then?" Joshua, ever the more insightful one of the two, asked Seungkwan gently.

Seungkwan sighed as he recalled the morning's strange encounter in the health center. He bit his lip and tried to find a word for how much of a mind fuck his morning was without seeming too defeated. "Difficult." 

"Weren't you out with your ward today?" Joshua asked, brows raised.

Jeonghan leaned in towards him, looking far too eager. "Ooh, did anything interesting happen?"

"Yeah, I had to get him treated for Bookeu's bite…"

"Right, right, of course you don't want him dying on you. Not yet at least- but congratulations, a hellhound's bite is gonna make him more pliable," Jeonghan said with a satisfied nod.

"It's a good thing your hellhound request was finally delivered," Joshua commented lightly. "I mean it took them 3 hellish years to do so, but at least you finally have Bookeu. That's going to make him more susceptible to your influence now that he's got a mark."

Seungkwan shrugged. "Well, I'm not placing all my bets on Bookeu's mark-"

"As you should," Jeonghan interrupted sternly. "Hellhounds do not secure people. We do."

Seungkwan nodded, a bit irritated at the needless reminder as he placed his half filled flute on a freshly materialised side table. "I know that, so I tried to see what the mark could do for me."

"What did you do then?" Joshua asked and then he frowned thoughtfully. "Please don't tell me you didn't try anything while you were in their territory."

Jeonghan tsked at the reminder of the territory. "It's still so unfair. Their territories are significant places while ours are just blegh."

"Well, yeah," Seungkwan sheepishly replied as he turned to Joshua instead of facing Jeonghan head on. "I mean, the mark should help us get into them better right?"

"They should," Joshua shrugged. "But marks have different potencies at different stages."

"So what happened? What's got you all twisted on my chaise now, Kwan?"

"I wanted to see if he'd curse out the doctor or throw tantrums like the kid I influenced earlier. But nothing happened."

"So, you wanted him to act childish?" Jeonghan asked, looking at him as if he just grew another horn. 

"He's 24, he won't act childish," Joshua easily dismissed. "You still have to account for free will, Kwannie."

"Not childish-," Seungkwan defended himself. He could feel the judgmental gaze of his two seniors and it was not pleasant. "-Just entitled and inconvenient. Be the right type of menace."

"Hmm...planting seeds of superiority?" Joshua hummed as he leant back in approval, finally easing off his measuring stare. "I like it. Is that what you're doing Kwannie-ah?"

Jeonghan snorted from his other side. "And what psychology article did you pull that out from, Shuji?"

Joshua chuckled, throwing the other an amused glance. "It doesn't matter, it's not like you'll spend time reading anyway."

Seungkwan ignored their bantering. "I don't know, I'm just testing him I guess. See how far I could push him."

"Not far at all, evidently so." Jeonghan didn't have to rub it in, but their kind didn't excel in necessities; they mastered the superfluous things in life. 

"I know," Seungkwan pouted, feeling a wee bit pathetic for himself. He knew he shouldn't have expected much given that they were in the enemies’ territory earlier, but like some human being, he had hoped for something. 

"Ah, the stink of hope is going to stick to the leather," Jeonghan wrinkled his nose and repeatedly patted the empty space beside Seungkwan, as if his actions would make that tiny flame of hope evaporate within. He huffed, irritated, and started on a spiel that Seungkwan has heard so many times. "Don't go around hoping, Seungkwannie. We don't do that hope shit. We do things and if they fail or not we fix it either way. Make no room for hope in this world, Seungkwannie."

Joshua, always the gentler of the two, only shook his head and sat closer to Seungkwan. In a soft voice, he tried to give Seungkwan some semblance of comfort. "That's alright Kwan-ah, you've only been assigned to him for two or three years. When is he due?"

And yet, to Seungkwan, the comforting felt undeserved. “Give or take 30 or 35 years.”

“See!” Joshua cheerfully shook him. “You've got a lifetime to work with. Trust us, the first ten percent of your assignment is just feeling your ward out. You're doing fine.”

Still unconvinced, Seungkwan felt all too human before the two who seemed to treat his distress trivially. “Hmm, maybe. But there's something else-”

Jeonghan jumped back up and proceeded to inspect his golf balls again. With an easy wave of his hand, he let Seungkwan continue. 

“Earlier, I could taste his fear. That's why I pushed to influence him, I wanted him to act on it. And it was simmering just underneath his skin. But for some reason, he stopped feeling it."

Jeonghan hummed but turned back around to face them again. "Well, you were in their territory after all. It's easy to lose grasp of him in their area."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Kwan-ah. You've always brought us your wards."

“And as they say, it's just a battle, Kwannie, not the war.” Jeonghan walked towards them and bent over to look at Seungkwan eye-to-eye. The older raised a delicate finger and traced it slowly over the younger's face. “Still, remember what I said, erase all hope.”

Seungkwan caught the older’s finger before it could go past his nose. Staring back with as much defiance as he could muster, he pushed Jeonghan's hand away. Jeonghan only chuckled while Joshua fondly rolled his eyes. But Seungkwan knew that underneath all the warmth and the grins, these two remain to be his seniors. And on top of that, they were fullies too. Chilled and fully aware of his non-fully nature, he thought bitterly. _My humanity is going to be the end of me_.

And with that Seungkwan straightened up and gathered his forgotten tenacity. 

_They’re right_ , Seungkwan thought as he mulled over another flute of Joshua's concoction. For the past century, he has been assigned four wards and all four of them were now bound and locked. He has never failed before and there was no way in heaven he would fail Chan now. Which reminded him…

"By the way, I saw him this morning! With a new one it seems."

Jeonghan grinned, his fully eyes darkening and peeking through his disguise while Joshua straightened up with a smirk that seemed so natural in his persona.

"Same old guardian, always up for training newbies," Jeonghan said with a fondness that contrasted greatly with his depraved gaze.

Joshua grabbed at Seungkwan’s hand and gripped it tightly. "Did he recognise you?"

Seungkwan shook his head. "No, I was able to mask myself. But I'm pretty sure the one he was with was able to do something. I'm just not sure what he did though."

Joshua sagged, clearly disappointed while Jeonghan huffed, unimpressed. 

"I'd count that as a small victory," Joshua muttered. "At the very least, your masking is getting better throughout the century."

"Still- it's a shame he didn't recognise you, Kwannie. It would have been a whole lot of fun if he did."

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


With the peculiar encounter put behind them, Vernon and S.Coups opened the door to their small flat expecting that it would be empty. What welcomed them instead was a cacophony of delicious smells. Their noses led them to the kitchen where Mingyu was shimmying in the middle of what could be best described as an organised chaos.

S.Coups knocked on the counter thrice to get the dancing man's attention. "I thought you'd be out with your ward today, Mingyu?"

Mingyu looked up from his cooking and paused in his dancing, with a surprised smile he proceeded to dump the used bowls on the sink, clearing the counter top. "Nah, Minghao's sick. I called him this morning and he didn't sound good."

"Ah," S.Coups looked around at the various dishes and inspected their contents. "Shouldn't you be over at his then? Just to make sure he's protected?" 

"Yeah hyung, I know. I've already left some invocations at his place before and those should hold off until this afternoon, but I figured I should cook something for him, you know. Make him feel a little bit better, faster."

Vernon joined S.Coups in peeking, there was one lunch box that was filled to the brim with steaming dumplings. The dumplings looked soft and stuffed, it only made Vernon hungry. "What are you making, hyung?"

"Xiao long bao plus pork and lotus root soup!" 

S.Coups whistled. "Sounds complicated."

"And yummy," Vernon smiled at the chef, hope glinting in his eyes. 

Mingyu laughed, canine tooth showing in delight as he playfully ruffled Vernon's hair. "I know , I know. I made enough for you guys too! I'll leave some out before I go to Hao's!"

"Yes! Thanks hyung!" Vernon sat at the table which was currently serving as a home to half packed utensils and lunchboxes. "Do you need any help packing, hyung?"

Mingyu grinned at him. "Not with packing, no, but if you can wash some of the dishes so I could go to Hao's earlier, that'd be great!"

S.Coups sat down next to Vernon and started cleaning up his corner of the table. "Any idea where Wonwoo is? I haven't felt him since this morning…"

Vernon shrugged. Like S.Coups, he had no idea where his other hyung was. He wasn't even sure if Wonwoo spent the night at the flat. 

Mingyu halted his scooping of the lotus root soup, thinking hard on when he'd last seen Wonwoo. "Huh, I don't know either. Last I heard he was called up…" 

"Strange…" S.Coups muttered under his breath. "I would have known if he was summoned."

Mingyu shrugged and returned to his packing task. "I'm sure he'll come around later. It's not like the courts would keep him for so long anyway."

"Well, that's if they haven't heard of his recent development with Junhui," S.Coups anxiously pointed out.

Mingyu sighed. "Then let's hope they don't."

Vernon was lost, he had no idea what his hyungs were talking about. Did something happen to Junhui? Or, did something happen to Junhui and Wonwoo? "Why? What happened to his ward?"

S.Coups bit his lip, clearly reluctant to respond and then he shook his head and gave Vernon a stern look that meant he would receive no answer.

So Vernon turned to the other person who could answer him but Mingyu already had his back to him and had busied himself with preparing his ward's "Get Well Soon" basket. He sighed, they would never be forthcoming if they were acting this way. He debated asking Mingyu, as he was a safer bet between his two hyungs. While S.Coups was unofficially his mentor, Mingyu was more likely to talk as he was the kind to find comfort in sharing stories and insights. He was about to stand up and offer his help for washing the dishes in hopes of prodding Mingyu further but his plan was waylaid when the door to the flat opened and closed unceremoniously.

"Wonwoo?" S.Coups stood up from the table and went to the kitchen doorway to call onto the missing fourth of their group. "We're in here."

Wonwoo walked in with a severe expression on his face which showed more than the usual exhaustion one experiences when ascending. It had Vernon wondering if something truly happened to his ward. Still, he greeted the older with a slight smile. "Hey, hyung! Welcome back."

A small grin broke free on Wonwoo's face and for a moment, the storm that he had been was now nowhere to be found. "Hey Vern, how's the hospital visit?"

"Fine now. I'm done with it all, all thanks to Him."

"That's great to hear. I'm sure you've been blessed," Wonwoo answered affably, though his voice sounded hoarse and pained. He took the seat that S.Coups vacated and seemed to completely ignore the tension in the room since he came in. S.Coups was staring pointedly at the back of his head, arms crossed on his chest as he leant on the kitchen's doorway while Mingyu was keeping himself conveniently busy.

The eldest left his perch on the doorway and sat right across Wonwoo. Having cleared the table of Mingyu's stuff, S.Coups calmly put his clasped hands on display. It was the usual S.Coups indicator that a serious talk was needed. Vernon could only gulp in anticipation; sure he was familiar with the gesture, being subjected to a lot of his hyung's advice and illumination sessions, but S.Coups has always been careful to keep their discussions one-on-one and private. It was quite out of the ordinary that S.Coups would initiate such a thing in full view of him and Mingyu especially since only Wonwoo seemed to be involved. There was also the fact that earlier, his two hyungs were too keen to keep whatever Wonwoo and his ward issues were from him, all in all, it just made Vernon more confused and a tinge intrigued.

"How are the courts?" S.Coups asked, a tinge of impatience colored his tone. He has always been blunt; always direct to the point, his pure nature made no room for dilly-dallying, and that meant there was no sense beating around the bush.

"Heavenly as always," Wonwoo replied unflinchingly, though he was careful not to look anywhere near S.Coups, instead he had his eyes trained on Mingyu’s back. 

S.Coups was not unfazed by the perfunctory response and he pressed on, determined to find out why Wonwoo ascended to the courts, but this time his voice was softer, less pointed and a touch worried. "I didn't know you were summoned."

Wonwoo didn't skip a single beat. "We're welcome to come and go as we please."

S.Coups sighed in frustration; he brought up two fingers to his temple and massaged it gently. "Wonwoo, you know how dangerous it is to go there without being summoned. It's going to take a toll on you."

Before Wonwoo could even respond, Mingyu placed a steaming bowl of his lotus root and pork ribs soup. "Here, Wonwoo hyung, you look like you need it."

Wonwoo accepted the dish with a grateful nod and Vernon rushed to offer him a spoon. Spoon in hand, Wonwoo started digging in, and though he looked famished, his hold was unsteady and kept shaking which made him eat slower than usual. For a while, the kitchen was filled with a tense kind of silence as they watched Wonwoo struggle to eat, with the occasional pings of Wonwoo's utensils against the ceramic and the rustle of Mingyu's wrapping.

Vernon thought it would be the last of the stilted discussion until S.Coups took a deep breath. "You know how much I hate to pull rank, Wonwoo--"

"Then don't," Wonwoo was quick to fire back, quickly returning to painstakingly inhaling the soup as if it was his first meal after a long fast. 

"But," S.Coups eyed him sharply, ignoring the interruption. "You should have told me you were planning to ascend! We could have helped you and you wouldn't be so- you wouldn't be struggling as much as you do right now!"

Wonwoo continued eating, choosing to ignore the elder’s remarks. 

“I'm not saying this because I'm your senior and I have a responsibility to you guys and the seraphs, but I genuinely care about you.” S.Coups paused and took a deep breath. “You, Wonwoo, Mingyu and Vernon, each and every single one of you -I would be completely devastated if something happened to any of you under my watch.”

Wonwoo put down his spoon gently; he saw the sincerity in S.Coups’s eyes, and had he been in the same position, he would have completely understood the way his senior felt-but if there’s anything he has learned, it’s that good intentions do not guarantee good results. “You cannot protect us every time, hyung. It’s the forbidden kind of foolishness to think you can try your best to do so especially since you don’t know if it was Willed.”

“I know that,” S.Coups whispered dejectedly as he bowed his head slowly. When he looked up, he was smiling wistfully. “But promise us that you will let us help, even with your ward.”

Wonwoo stiffened as soon as the word ward was mentioned, all the echoes of pain and struggle fled his visage only to be replaced by a wooden look. “It’s alright. The issue with Junhui and me would no longer be an issue.”

“But, just days ago you were on the brink of losing it!” Mingyu protested, with each word his voice got higher pitched and he grew more and more frustrated. “How can you say that your issue has been resolved? What if it happens again?!”

“What if what happens again?” Vernon asked. The three elders comically swung to face him in various states of dread and guilt. There was something going on that all his hyungs knew and kept from him. No one spoke; but he could not take it in silence anymore. “Is it Junhui hyung? Has he ceased? Is that why you have been so weak the past few weeks, Wonwoo hyung? Is Junhui hyung lost?”

“No Vernon,” S.Coups rushed to reassure him. “Junhui’s still alive.”

Wonwoo smiled wryly at that and Vernon could not help but sigh in relief. He liked Junhui. While all of his hyungs' wards were nice and fun people to be around with, he felt a certain innocence in Junhui that made him hope for Wonwoo’s successful unfettering.

“But how about you?” Mingyu chimed in. “Your ward may be alive, but what about you?”

Wonwoo shook his head. “I- I will try my best to get better.” 

S.Coups bit his lip and Mingyu turned around in such haste, it almost gave Vernon whiplash. 

In a small, prodding voice, S.Coups sought Wonwoo out. “ What did they say?”

Wonwoo looked up at the ceiling, shrugging impassively. “They didn’t say anything. They don’t know about Junhui and me, at least not yet. I went to see Seulgi in the Virtues.”

“The Virtues?” Vernon echoed. “Which Virtue?”

“Love.” It was Mingyu who answered for Wonwoo. “You went for Love, right? That’s why you had to ascend.”

Wonwoo closed his eyes. “The Seraphs don’t know about Junhui and me yet, but I know that if I allow myself, it will reach them. And I can’t let that happen. Believe me, I’ll be the last one to destroy Junhui.”

S.Coups inhaled sharply. “So you decided to destroy-” 

A loud thud on top of the kitchen counter startled them all. It was Mingyu; he was done fixing the lunch he was to bring to his own ward and he unapologetically shoved the spoons and chopsticks into his lunch bag. “Minghao needs me.” 

Without looking at Wonwoo nor waving a goodbye to Vernon or S.Coups, their third youngest stomped to the doorway and left the flat with a resounding bang of the front door. With Mingyu disappearing in anger, the exhaustion and aching came back to reclaim Wonwoo with a vengeance.

S.Coups moved to sit next to Wonwoo only to end up patting the other on the back. “He will come around.”

Wonwoo nodded absently. “You know what, hyung, it’s not too bad to have Junhui as my last ward. He’s gonna be the high note I am ending with.”

S.Coups smiled morosely. He couldn’t quite understand where Wonwoo was coming from, considering that all his life, his purpose was to unfetter unfortunate ones. He couldn’t imagine stopping his calling and his reason for existence. But here Wonwoo was, he who has completely surrendered his purpose for the sake of saving his ward. S.Coups was sure that Junhui’s last exhale would be Wonwoo’s last moment with them as well. He did not know if Vernon was aware of that inevitability, but he prayed that they would have more time together before whatever Wonwoo had done would snatch him out of existence. He shot a glance towards their youngest and wondered what was going on inside that head. 

Vernon hummed, now more enlightened than seconds earlier. He was upset about the fact that the hyungs were keeping this massive issue from him, but at the same time, he felt helpless and a little bit demoralised at the fact that they have come to a point where they can no longer help Wonwoo. There’s a part of him that understood Wonwoo and his desire to save his ward, after all, he had been the same before. He had given up his own in exchange for another. But still, there was one thing he wanted to ask. “Wonwoo hyung, are you and Junhui hyung in love?”

“Maybe we were,” Wonwoo confessed, the devotion to his ward bleeding into his voice. “But Seulgi made sure he isn’t anymore.”

“But you still are? That’s the ache all over you, right, hyung?”

S.Coups shook his head at what he’s hearing. Vernon was so bright and so sharp, but he cannot stomach the words and the situation he was hearing now. How can Wonwoo and Junhui's struggle be so cleverly summed up in just a few words, and by someone who did not even know the full story yet. 

“I’m working on it,” Wonwoo responded with an illusory grin, but Vernon could see that he was not exactly functional, not yet at least. 

With only three of them sitting in the kitchen in various states of contemplation, soup bowls unattended and xiao long bao left uneaten, the atmosphere felt suffocatingly dreary. To chase away the bleak silence, Vernon started on his share of Mingyu’s cooking. The once bouncy xiao long bao now looked sad and saggy, and yet it still tasted rich, the soup within the dimsum was still cocooned within safely. Wonwoo followed suit as he popped a dimsum in his mouth, and then he cleared his throat.

“By the way, Vernon, just a heads up.”

Vernon looked up from his bowl, brows raised in question.

“I came upon one of the Cherubs, Jinki sunbaenim - he said you were due for a summons in the coming days.”

“A summon?” S.Coups repeated. “What for?”

Wonwoo took out a manila envelope from his jacket and placed it in their midst. “You’re getting a ward of your own, Vernon.”

Vernon immediately grabbed at the envelope. A ward! He was getting his first ever ward! He wondered if it’s someone he knew. A big part of him wished he would get his sister as a ward, but the chances for that were low given that they were now in London and it was unlikely that he would be assigned to S.Coups’ group if his ward happened to be outside Britain. 

Deft fingers sticky from the cooked rice paper of the xiao long bao, he turned the envelope around and unwound the red thread that secured it. The file inside was not thick, and if Vernon was the head of stationery in the courts, he would have forgone the thick envelope. He pulled out a thin, stapled, collection of papers. Eyes glossing over the standard header for court stationery, he was immediately drawn to the image of his ward.

His ward looked familiar and bore a striking resemblance to one of the guys he saw at the hospital earlier. Below the picture of a boy with smiling monolid eyes; a tapered, small face; long, choppy bangs and an infectious grin was his ward’s name.

  
  


Lee Jung Chan, Human, 24.


End file.
